


wouldn't you love to love her

by donutcats



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, POV Alternating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:48:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23336383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutcats/pseuds/donutcats
Summary: And the story deviates off course yet again, because Jackie twists her mouth for a moment and then says; “Can we try that again?”“What?”“Can we kiss again?"
Relationships: Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde
Comments: 20
Kudos: 318





	wouldn't you love to love her

**Author's Note:**

> It took me two weeks to write this, and at this point it is what it is. It's officially the longest fic I've ever written or published though, so I'm proud of that lmao. 
> 
> Canon Divergent from Kelso's Serenade, solely because I was reading some Jackie/Hyde fics and rewatching some episodes, and I absolutely love their day spent together at the mall, but I was never a big fan of the obsessive crush Jackie ended up forming for Hyde. then, after JBH, the entire story line and development for whatever connection they had was completely dropped until season 5. 
> 
> this started as a fic of me wondering how Jackie's relationship with everyone, not just Hyde, could have formed a bit more naturally if she never got that instant crush on Hyde. It devolved into Jackie and Hyde fluff with sprinklings of my own love of Stevie Nicks. also, the timeline in the show makes zero sense so I created my own. please enjoy 
> 
> Title from Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac.

A week or so goes by after what Hyde likes to think of as a day spent with Jackie where he didn’t completely hate it, where she brought him to the mall and bought him new boots and cried in her daddy's Lincoln because she’s convinced she'll never find anyone besides Kelso. Where Hyde decided to be stupidly sensitive for some reason and gave her a bit of comfort and advice. 

It truly was idiotic of him, seeing as how she sort of made herself at home in the basement in a way she never had while dating Kelso. It was always rare to see her there without being attached to Kelso but now- just yesterday he came out of his room and Jackie was watching Lavern & Shirely, by herself! She said she was just waiting for Donna, but the sight of her, alone in a place where he never saw it before, was jarring.

Like seeing a wolf walk down main street. It wasn’t impossible, but the sheer idea of it happening left some disconnect in his brain. 

What's more ridiculous is the sound of some sort of slow ballad pumping it's way through the basement door as Hyde comes back from a rather boring shift at the Fotohut, and as he opens the door, his confusion only grows. 

Eric is sitting on the couch, one of his weird lego creations on the beat up coffee table, which isn't the weird part. That’s actually pretty freakin’ normal. No, the part that isn’t lining up correctly in his brain, is Jackie sitting next to him, popping lego pieces together and chattering away as if she's actually like, helping him or something. 

What in the hell is this _music._ Hyde swipes up the record sleeve. "I never took you for a Fleetwood Mac fan, Forman."

"Thank God you’re here, man. We've listened to _Landslide_ so many times I've lost count, Hyde. _I've lost count."_

“Hi Hyde. Oh!" Jackie stands up, stepping quickly over even more legos scattered on the floor. "Listen to this part!"

"Jackie!"

"One more time Eric! Then we'll put on that Styx band or whatever that you like." She fiddles with the record player, accurately moving the needle into the intended place within a second, and Hyde wonders how long she's been torturing Forman if she's got it down to a science.

 _"Well I've been afraid of changing, because I built my life around you! But time makes you bolder, even children get older, and I'm getting older too!”_ She sings along, or something close to singing. At least she has the spirit, he guesses. “It's about Michael and I! It's about me, moving on from Michael. Stevie Nicks wrote it just for me!" 

"Oh yeah, I’m sure she was thinking about a munchkin in Wisconsin when she jotted those lyrics down." 

“Maybe she was. You can’t prove it.” Jackie hardly ever rises to the bait anymore. She’s getting good at it. Maybe those lessons in Zen really did pay off.

Hyde gives a very noncommittal nod, because if he shows any more signs of interest she'll pounce, drawing this conversation out far longer than he planned for it to last, and makes his way to his favorite chair. "And the kindergarten level team building project?"

"Careful- go around the couch, Hyde! I just fixed up that part of the, uhm."

"Millennium Falcon." Eric supplies, voice flat.

"Yes, exactly. Go, around." she shoos him around the back of the couch and plops down next to Eric yet again, gathering up bits and pieces of lego. "I thought I’d lend my impressive and meticulous skills to Eric."

"She came in here stomping and pouting about Kelso and kicked this beautiful baby to pieces."

Jackie shoots him daggers, and Eric returns her glare. "A deal was made. I'd help fix it if he listened to me talk. Which really, he's getting the bargain. I don't give my attention to just anyone!"

"It's because no one wants it."

"Watch it, Eric, or the falcon ship is going in the dryer." There’s not much heat to her words, and it’s clear Eric doesn’t take the threat too seriously. She deftly plucks a lego from Forman's hand and fits it snugly into the piece she's working on. "Are you even looking at the diagram? Ridiculous." 

"It's confirmed. I've entered the Twilight Zone."

"Oh shut up." Forman mutters, but he takes the extra pieces that Jackie quietly offers him without any protest. 

It’s freaky. 

**_\---_ **

Jackie spends more time with the group than she ever has before. She tried to call them the gang once, but Donna gave her a weird look and Hyde made a mention about knowing a few gangs and trust him, they didn’t measure up at all. 

She puts her foot down about Michael, not taking him back or running into his arms at all. No matter how much he cried or how many romantic gestures he tried to do. Most of them blew up in his face anyways. He was a child, she could see that now. Maybe she was a child too- well, maybe she still is but she likes to consider herself a _young lady_. The point is, Jackie has perspective now. 

She spent a whole entire day with a boy, and not once did he run off because he saw something he liked better, not once did she have to yell and stomp and pout to get him to see her. When Michael is around, Jackie turns into a version of herself that she doesn’t really like. It’s a Jackie that’s far angrier. She noticed it that day with Hyde. They sat at Sizzler and they talked and ate, and while they didn’t agree on too many topics, she never had to raise her voice to get his attention or force him to change his mind. 

Well, she did try that a few times, to make Hyde see it her way and agree with her. But he never did, just raised an eyebrow behind those shades of his and refused to continue the line of conversation if she was going to keep pushing. Sometimes he’d throw out a _“yeah alright,”_ agreeing for the sake of it, if it was something small and not worth the argument. But, Jackie realized she actually enjoyed someone who disagreed with her on things that actually mattered.

Instead of Michael picking and choosing the things that would make their relationship the easiest to handle, only agreeing when it never mattered and never changing his opinion solely because he’s delusional and stubborn. 

Jackie doesn’t want Michael in her life anymore, but she had to admit to herself that maybe she wanted the rest of that ragtag group in her life. They made things fun, even if a day only ever consisted of some small weird argument that never really affected her. 

Spending some one on one time with Hyde made her realize that maybe she should try and hang out with everyone without Michael around. Without Michael to tint their interactions with her, without him around to bring out that angry little girl inside of her. Especially Donna, that girl is in desperate need of a friend who isn’t an idiotic guy, and Jackie is perfect to fill the role. 

**_-_ **

Jackie decides she wants to bake, and of course she asks Donna if she'll teach her how. Sure, she could just hire someone to whip her up a batch of cookies or spin out a delicious cake, but Mrs. Forman always seems so happy when _she_ bakes. It can’t be that difficult.

Donna admits she doesn't actually know anything about baking either, that Midge was never one to really sit down with a cookbook and try her luck, so they scramble up to Mrs. Forman and ask for help, because Jackie wants to learn and Donna doesn't really all that much, but Jackie is great at convincing people to do things. It’s one of her many talents. 

Mrs. Forman is all too happy to teach, and she sits the girls down at the counter and pulls out recipe books, going over all of the basics. The do’s and do not’s. At first it seems like a lot, and Jackie sort of starts to second guess if this was a good idea at all, but then Donna is pulling a book closer and talking about brownies or something and making them for her dad. Jackie can feel herself becoming invested in the welfare of these brownies for some reason. 

The first few things they make don’t exactly come out the way they should. Mrs. Forman does her best to help, but then she has to leave for an extra shift at work and it’s just Donna and Jackie in the kitchen. They throw the first batch of brownies away after Jackie forgets about them and they come out hard as rocks. The second batch doesn’t have enough chocolate in it. Jackie starts to wonder if her style of baking is less the _from scratch_ kind, and more of the _from box_ sort. 

Fez scampers in, an accusatory note in his voice as he claims he could smell delicious chocolatey goodness.

“They’re in the trash.” Donna says, finishing off whatever batter was still in the bowl. 

Fez is already elbow deep in the trashcan before either girl can say anything else, and he’s biting down on, frankly, brownies that sound far crunchier than they have any right to be.

They try again a few days later, because now Jackie is even more invested than she was before. It was just a flicker then, a spark of interest, curiosity. Now, it’s personal. She will make perfect fudgy brownies if it kills her. Well, maybe she won’t go that far. She will make perfect fudgy brownies even if she chips another nail while using the blender! That seems like a reasonable enough sacrifice for brownies. 

Jackie tries not to think about why she's not trying to bake anything for her own father. It's one of those thoughts that threaten to gnaw at her if she doesn't shove it far away and ignore it. 

Fez invites himself over, settling in at the kitchen table, and he happily accepts all of the cast offs that don’t quite make the cut. Mrs. Forman said that cookies might be a little easier, that brownies are always a bit tricky when you’re first starting out, but Jackie is determined.

Jackie doesn't mind Fez all that much, as he sits there and breaks apart brownie after brownie, giving his criticisms and compliments. Donna tries to tell her it’s not that serious, and maybe it isn’t. But Jackie just wants to be good at something practical. That realization sits heavy in her stomach, and she doesn’t want to unpack any of it so she slides another baking pan filled with brownie batter into the oven and asks Fez if there’s too much sugar or if more should be added.

“Oh, more more more.” But the words are even farther from English than usual, as his mouth is filled with brownie.

Donna snatches the brownie that’s still in his hand. “Don’t listen to this freak, nothing ever has enough sugar for him.”

“It is true, yes.” 

He’s not a terrible guy, really, especially when he's actually acting like a friend and not just being nice to her because he wants something from her. She’s sick of people only ever wanting things from her and never giving anything in return. 

He kind of stopped dogging after her after Donna threatened to kick his ass in her most serious voice, and a swell of fondness for the redheaded giant erupted in Jackie’s heart.

  
  
  


Jackie doesn’t exactly choose to willingly spend time with Eric, but he’s sort of always around. At first it was annoying, when she’d stop by to visit Donna, (“She has her own house you know.”) or even Hyde. (“I don’t even want to ask why you’re looking for him.”) It’s still annoying, actually, but instead of stomping out, she ends up plonking herself down on the couch and not moving, even when Eric complains. 

“I miss when you’d only come around with Kelso, because you’d _leave_ with him too.” 

“Well, now Michael drags around a skank wherever he goes. Frankly, I’m an upgrade, Eric.” 

Eric shudders at that. “I’m trading one hellspawn for another. Mercy me.” 

She’s loath to admit it, but she ends up helping him out with more of those lego things he enjoys playing with so much. Sure, she finds it nerdy and childish and just outright ridiculous, but there’s something enjoyable about being able to do something that Eric wasn’t expecting from her. Fitting the pieces together and hearing the satisfying click, being able to tell what the shape is meant to be as she references the picture Eric provides. 

It’s also a time where the devil jokes seem to become scarce, if not completely stop. Sometimes they sit in complete silence and work, just the two of them at opposite ends of the ratty couch, a box of _model pieces_ , as Eric calls them, sat between them. Other times they talk. About whatever show is on or if something particularly interesting happened at school. He cares more about the gossip mill than Hyde does, giving animated reactions to whatever information she provides him with. Even if he’s sarcastic about it most of the time, she wholly enjoys when his shock is genuine. 

Jackie even helps him fix up his car, on the warmer days when Fall hasn’t completely set in, because the Vista Cruiser has seen better days and well, she actually really liked spending career day with Red, in the same garage what feels like ages ago. 

Eric still makes fun of her, _spoiled Princess Jackie,_ getting grease and oil on her hands. It’s a step up from the satan jokes, she thinks. She calls him a geeky little brat in return, knowing how he’s gone on rants about the differences between Geeks and Nerds, and she can feel something settle between them. It’s not a truce or friendship, it’s something that’s only mildly antagonistic tinted with something else she can’t put her finger on. 

They sit in the driveway, backs against the Cruiser’s bumper, eating a lunch of sandwich's Mrs. Forman brought out to them, and Eric admits he sort of kind of hated Jackie. Which, isn’t a surprise. But he keeps going, explains further, his voice starting and stopping every now and then like he isn’t sure what words he wants to use. Or even if he wants to say it at all. 

She wedged herself into a group of friends he's known since forever, apparently, and she was always taking up Kelso's time, and then Donna's. Even Fez would talk about her and it felt like he was slowly losing everyone. 

"I've never really had friends before, Eric.” Normally, she wouldn’t tell him this, but she feels like she owes him something in return for the bit of honesty he presented her. “The cheer squad are bitches that stab each other in the back and everything is built on who's popular for what, and what you can offer them but- your little group of burnouts and misfits genuinely like each other.” She shrugs, picking at the bare edges of her sandwich. Mrs. Forman cut the crusts off. Jackie’s never had anyone do that for her. “I didn't mean to take anything away."

"Yeah, I know that now.” Eric knocks their shoulders together. “Besides, the Jackie that dated Kelso was a mega bitch. But the Jackie that doesn't give Kelso the time of day? I kind of like her." 

Jackie punches him in the shoulder, but she's smiling and leaving the uneaten bits of her lunch far away from the tool box as she buries herself back under the Vista Cruiser's hood, and Eric is holding the flashlight for her without complaining. 

  
  
  


Jackie spends time with Hyde too. In between all the other bits of bonding, accidental and not, that she’s been doing. Nothing quite like the day they spent at the mall, but she manages to get him to go to the Hub with her sometimes. 

She buys a too large drink and an extra burger because she claims she’s always starving, but then she can never finish the second burger or the rest of her drink. And she knows Hyde knows what she's doing. They're both aware that she spends her money on him because his house is falling apart and his mother is either drunk or never home or both. That he's worn the same shirt for four days in a row now. 

Jackie has gotten better at not mentioning his drunk mother or deadbeat dad, because she's sort of realized it hurts when she says those things. In the same way she'd be hurt if anyone accurately noticed her own home life and picked apart her workaholic father and lush mother, both unfaithful. Hyde doesn’t show that he’s hurt, but he shouldn’t have to. Some people are just better at hiding their hurt, Jackie’s learning. 

Most of the time he won’t complain when she buys him things, and it’s not like she’s spending even close to half of what she spent on Michael. Hyde will complain about feeding into the grinding gears of society and becoming a corporate shill, but she just shrugs and reminds him that it's not his money. If anything, getting things free and enjoying them is a way to stick it to the man. He smiled at her proudly for that, and she held onto that feeling, makes sure to reuse that explanation whenever she can because it always makes his eyebrow tick in a pleasant way.

Once in a while, he'll refuse. He'll protest and won’t accept anything. Be it fries at the Hub or even new gloves because it’s getting cold and she noticed he didn’t own any. He just claims she's spending too much on him.

"You don't have to buy my friendship Jackie. Damn." And he shoves his fists so far into his jacket pockets, she’s surprised they didn’t rip right through. Now that she notices, his jacket is a looking beat up too. 

"Wait, so you're admitting we're friends?" Jackie clings onto the bit of that sentence that isn’t about feeling like she needs to keep people in her life the only way she knows how.

There’s a pause. Hyde glances away, back again. Back away. His shades hide most of the actual emotion in his eyes but she can still see their movement. "I never said that."

"Mm-hmm. Sure you didn’t." 

She slips the gloves into his jacket pocket the next time she sees it laying around unsupervised. The next day she catches Hyde wearing them in the school parking lot.

They sit around in Eric's basement and watch crappy TV a lot of the time. Well, most of the time. Hyde starts discussions that always end up making her head hurt with how much thinking she has to do. Not in a bad way really. More in the way of- like when you haven't been cheering all summer and you haven't kept up with _any_ stretches or much exercising, so when you go back in the fall, your muscles ache. It's like that, like a muscle that she's not used to using but the more she uses it, the more she finds herself liking his weird topics.

  
  
  


She avoids spending time with Michael like she avoids wearing anything polyester, at least one on one because she can never really escape him when the group as a whole hangs out. But she tries her best to make it clear that she does not want him back. She's sick of worrying who the next Pam Macy will be, the next Laurie, who is she going to find him with next time? When he’s not with Eric's sister, he’s trying to talk about how clear it is that Jackie can’t stop wanting him. She blames it on the fact that he was dropped on his head as a child. 

But there's only so many excuses you can make for someone who _clearly_ does not own enough real estate in his own head before it gets tiresome.

_**-** _

There comes a point where Kelso tries to stage some sort of- he called it a coup but everyone tried to tell him that's not what a coup is. He wouldn't listen. It really boiled down to an ultimatum. 

"Jackie has _got_ to stop hanging out in the basement."

"Michael, I'm sitting right here!" 

"It's gone too far guys!” Michael continues, standing with his hands moving around in that way of his, for emphasis. “She's not friends with anyone, and her being here sort of puts a damper on me bringing Laurie around."

"Jackie is the reason you're not bringing my evil sister around? Oh Jackie, stay forever, won't you?" Eric leans closer, playing up the honeyed tone in his voice. 

"Kelso, you can't just kick Jackie out of the basement because you're taking the break up worse than she is." Donna pipes up.

"I am not!" The classic Kelso scoff.

"You cried for a week and tried to write her a song." Fez supplies. 

Kelso fumbles with his words for a second, and Jackie doesn’t know what to say. So she waits. Even as her blood is beginning to boil, she clamps her mouth shut and sees exactly where he’s going with this. "We're missing the point! Jackie keeps rejecting me so like, what's the point of her being here!"

"You already said it. She keeps Laurie away. She's like my own personal anti-Laurie charm." Eric actually reaches out and puts a hand on Jackie's shoulder, lips twisting in a pleading sort of way. It manages to make Jackie smile for a minute. "Seriously Jackie, move in. Ward her off for the rest of my life."

"Kelso, man. Quit being a dillhole." Hyde kicks his feet up onto the spool table, arms crossing. "Jackie can stick around as long as she wants." 

Kelso does yet another gasp-scoff. "Well….. _well._ Then. It's either her or me!" 

"Don't be ridiculous." Donna waves his outburst away. 

"Yes, Kelso. Sit back down, we haven't even finished Gilligan's Island!" Fez tugs at Kelso's shirt. 

"No I- I mean it! Yeah. _yeah._ There's only room in this basement for one of us!"

"Like a divorce?" Jackie finally speaks up. The way everyone is reacting to Michael sets some of the boiling anger at ease. No one’s agreeing with him. It makes something fuzzy and fond grow between her ribs. "Alright. I get the basement during the week." She tosses her hair, acting as if this whole entire thing isn’t bothersome at all.

"That's no fair!"

"You know what's not fair, man? Cheating on Jackie behind her back."

“Ah-burn.” Fez mutters quietly, like he can’t help himself.

"Hyde, you're meant to be on my side!"

"No can do, Kelso. See, I've been your friend since single digits, but you've never bought me a comfy winter coat. Or actually enjoyed watching _Donahue_ with me." Hyde shrugs. "I gotta give my vote to Jackie." 

"Aw, thank you, Steven!" Jackie leans over the arm of the couch and pats Hyde on the arm. 

Donna fidgets for a second. "Honestly Kelso? You've been an ass lately, more than usual, which is saying a lot. I think I have to be on Jackie's side in this. She doesn’t need to leave just because _you_ say so. She’s a lot more than your ex, and she has every right to be here." 

That fuzzy thing in Jackie’s chest grows even more.

 _"Donna!_ C'mon Eric, what about you? No matter what they say, it's your basement! You get final say!"

"Yeahhhh, see Kelso.” Eric steeples his fingers, turning to face Kelso from his spot from the back of the couch. “I'm known for my loyalty and big heart, much like a German Shepherd."

"More like a chihuahua, but continue." Jackie smiles up at Eric, all teeth.

"Ok, scrap the dog references. The point is, man we've been friends forever. I'll always love your big, empty _empty_ head. But see, how do I explain this in a way you'll understand. I hate my sister, and my sister comes around less when Jackie is here. Thus, I want to keep Jackie here."

"I also convinced Mrs. Forman to buy that weird flavor of pop for you."

"It’s lemon-lime and it’s _not that weird Jackie.”_

"Not you too!" Kelso turns to Fez. "Ok, what about you?"

"Ayyyye, do not make me choose." Fez wrings his hands in his lap. "Kelso always brings me along for very fun pranks and good times, but. Oh Jackie bakes me the sweetest of cookies and we listen to disco together. I can not choose! I will not!" He stamps his feet like a kid and shakes his head. 

"Jackie's not going anywhere, alright? Sit back down and let Fez finish Gilligan's Island for the love of God." Hyde reaches over to unmute the television.

"You're all terrible!" Kelso turns and storms out of the basement, the door banging shut behind him.

It's quiet for a few seconds, the only noise is Gilligan doing something stupid as always.

"He'll get over it." Eric sighs. 

  
  
  


It's later in the night, Fez left almost directly after Gilligan's Island ended, and Eric decided to walk Donna home only a few short minutes ago. Which, she lives just next door, but Jackie finds it sort of cute. She gathers up her coat and her bag, and Hyde is still there, in his uncomfortable chair, shades still on, feet on the coffee table. 

"Hey, Steven?"

"Hm?" 

He's stopped complaining about her using his first name. She doesn't use it often, only when she's very sincere about something. Because it feels a bit more intimate that way, to let him know she sees him, and she wants him to listen. 

"Thank you, for choosing me." 

Hyde clears his throat, eyes skipping over to her and away. His fingers are laced together on his stomach, and she can see the way he fidgets with the ring on his pinky finger. "Kelso was being an idiot. It's no big deal."

"It is though. For me." Jackie shrugs on her coat, pulling the fur lined fabric closer. "I'm not used to people choosing me." She bends down and kisses his cheek, in the same way she did when they spent the day together at the mall. She's thanking him, but this time there's no Kelso standing and watching. She's doing it for herself, because she wants to. Because he deserves it. "Goodnight."

"Hey Jackie, wait." 

Her hand is on the knob but she stops, waits. "Hm?"

There's a stretch of silence, maybe a beat or two, and she can almost see the way Hyde is gearing himself up for whatever he wants to say. "You're welcome." Jackie can't help but smile. Something true and beaming, because it took him so much to say those two words. Which means he especially meant them. "Night." 

She closes the door behind her and presses her back to it. Her chest feels so warm, and she bundles her coat even closer, for once not dreading the walk back to her house.

**_-_ **

“What’s going on with you and Hyde?” 

“Nothing?” 

Jackie pauses in painting Donna’s nails long enough to give her a weird look. Donna shrugs in response, taking her free hand and blowing lightly on her nails. 

“I’m not trying to accuse you of anything, it’s just that I never thought I’d see the day. You and Hyde hanging out and like, what? Being friends?”

It’s Jackie’s turn to shrug. “I guess so.” She swipes more Royal Purple onto Donna’s nails. Donna wanted yellow but Jackie had to veto it because it would have clashed horribly with her hair. “He’s so sweet to me, Donna, and it’s so much fun sitting at the Hub and talking to him about all sorts of stuff.”

“I want to make a snarky comment about Hyde being sweet but. Yeah, he can be.”

“Right! He tries to hide it but he has such a good heart.” Jackie caps her bottle of nail polish, indicating she’s all finished. Grabbing her favorite unicorn pillow, Jackie hugs it to her stomach. “Like, he didn’t have to spend the day with me after Michael and I broke up. He didn’t have to bring me to prom either, but he did! Because he saw I was upset and he wanted to help.”

“Yeah, you do bring out a weird soft side of him. It’s freakin’ eerie to see. Don’t tell him I said that.” Donna crawls further onto Jackie’s bed, checking to see if her nails are still tacky before snatching a pillow shaped like a cupcake and lounging against the headboard. 

“I do?”

“Oh God, you’re going to let that go to your head, aren’t you? I shouldn’t have said anything. Just forget it, ok?”  
  
Jackie follows Donna to the head of her bed, settling in next to her. She hugs the unicorn closer, presses her cheek into the soft fabric. “Maybe he’s always been soft, Donna. He just had to grow a thick skin around all the soft bits to survive.”

**_\---_ **

"He called me a bitch, and you punched him! That’s what happened, isn’t it.”

“Uh, no.”

“Liar, I _am_ a bitch. Oh Steven, that's so sweet of you!" and Jackie goes in for the hug, arms stretched wide, but he dodges around her and stomps into the kitchen. Mrs. Forman is there, at the counter, putting together something patriotic, and Hyde just starts to pace. 

"Is everything ok with your girlfriend?" Mrs. Forman asks, barely looking away from her task.

"Who?"

"Jackie, the little bossy one. I saw you punched the young man she brought as a date and she didn't look too upset by it. So I'm assuming he deserved it."

"Uh, yeah. He called her a bitch." Hyde is still in his own head, playing back the whole thing. Why he felt the need to lay Chip out. Forman and Hyde have both called Jackie a bitch, so what was the big deal. "She's _not_ my girlfriend." Hyde adds, a little late. 

The big deal was that Hyde and Forman knew Jackie, they were actually- God they were actually _friends_ and when Forman would call Jackie a bitch she was normally around to hear and punch him in the shoulder herself. And Hyde only ever called her a bitch if he was actually calling her out on _bitchy behavior._ Chip- Chip had no right.

"Are you sure? You spend an _awful_ lot of time together." Mrs. Forman continues, oblivious to Hyde's inner thoughts. 

"Yes, I’m sure! It’s not- we’re just friends. We're not dating. I don't like her like that." He sets down the can of beer he'd been holding, belatedly realizing he brought it into the house. Mrs. Forman pretends she doesn't see it, only raises an eyebrow at Hyde. "I don't! Quit looking at me like that. She's spoiled, and entitled, and mean and bossy- and it's a miracle we're barely friends!”

“That is true, you _do_ have a tendency to hate almost everything.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

She presses her lips together in a smile. “It means I think you kind of _like her.”_

“I don’t like her, I can’t like her! Mrs. Forman, if I like her," he jabs a finger into his own chest. "Shoot me!"

Without missing a beat, Mrs. Forman spins around, her hand making the universal sign for a gun, and she says _"Pow!"_ a little too cheerily. She continues to laugh, in that way that many people might find annoying, but he just finds it oddly comforting. Even in the middle of a crisis. 

There's a long beat of silence, as Mrs. Forman turns back to, what Hyde can now see are little deviled eggs, and a brief thought flashes through his mind that those are Jackie's favorites. God dammit. He runs his hands down his face, takes a swig from the abandoned beer can, and snaps out, _"Fine!"_ Then he's walking across the kitchen, out into the driveway, and right up to the plastic lawn chair Jackie is sitting in. She looks a little dejected, and there's no sign of Chip.

"Jackie, get your shit. I'm taking you out."

"What, really?" Jackie seems curious, but she still jumps up, her purse already in hand and jacket not far behind. "Why?" She pauses, blinks at him.

"Beats sitting around here eating cheap hotdogs and drinking warm beer." Because he's not in the headspace currently or ever to tell her that maybe this is going to be a date.

"You have a point. Ok, sure. Let’s go!"

  
  
  


He asks what she wants to do and she mentions a movie. There was something playing in theatres that was meant to be really good, and she’s been meaning to go see it, and it’s been out since the _summer_ apparently can he _believe_ it? 

It’s something vaguely romantic, he thinks. Or maybe not? It’s about some pirate guy named Sinbad, he knows that for sure. The movie is literally named after him. It’s not the best movie Hyde has seen, but it’s not the worst. Jackie obviously enjoys it, she whispers little comments to him every time something she finds cool happens, and he can’t help himself from smiling.

After, he takes her up to Mt. Hump because there really isn’t much to do in their little town. If it’s not the movies or the Hub, you’re kind of shit out of luck. So he parks the car and she turns up the radio and they sort of just sit. They talk a little bit, but it’s a warm night for November and Jackie ends up slipping out of the car to sit on the hood of the Lincoln. Hyde joins her.

It’s the sort of silence that doesn’t feel uncomfortable. Which, is weird since Hyde can’t remember the last time he sat in silence with anyone who wasn’t Forman and actually enjoyed it. Silences were usually tense and filled with unsaid things. But Jackie just presses her shoulder against his own and tilts her chin up towards the stars. 

“This is one of the best nights I’ve ever had.”

“We haven’t talked in thirty minutes.”

“But that’s ok. We don’t have to say anything, I understand you.”

“Oh, really?” 

There’s this moment where he thinks she’s going to try and spout something straight from one of those romance novels she likes to read, but instead she kicks at the side of his leg. _“Yep.”_

They go back to the silence for a bit. He ends up handing over the rest of his soda that he got from the movie’s, and at some point he even loses his jacket to her. Some song he barely recognizes is filtering it’s way through the speakers, out through the open passenger door. 

“So, what about you?” She asks, playing with the straw so it makes a noise every time she moves it.

“What about me?” 

“Well _I_ said it was one of the best nights, but what do _you_ think? Communication, Steven, is vital in any relationship.” 

“It’s no worse than bowling.” Her face scrunches up at that, and he can tell she’s trying to decide if she should take it as a joke or an insult. “I don’t hate bowling.” And there it is, that smile of hers that seems to soften at the edges. 

It's a quick kiss at first, Jackie's hands wrapped around the soda cup, Hyde's jacket around her shoulders. It's just a mouth pressed to a mouth, the slight suggestion of a tilt of a head. 

They both pull away at almost the same time, and there’s a beat of silence. 

“Huh. That was- did you feel anything?” 

“Uh, did you?” Like hell is he going to answer first. 

And the story deviates off course yet again, because Jackie twists her mouth for a moment and then says; “Can we try that again?” 

“What?” 

“Can we kiss again? I feel like it could have been much better. There was lots of wasted potential, Hyde.” 

“Hey, I’m a great kisser.” 

“So am I! Something went wrong, clearly.” 

Hyde sighs, snagging the soda from her to take a sip, crushing the straw between his teeth. He doesn’t give it much thought as he wordlessly hands it back to her, and she takes it just as easily. She makes a face at the state of the top of the straw but says nothing, just turns her attention back to him. 

“Yeah, alright. It can’t hurt.” 

“Great!” In the next second, Jackie is balancing the soda on the hood of her daddy’s Lincoln, smoothing down the skirt of her dress and taking very deliberate breaths. 

“Are you trying to psych yourself up? Jesus, Jackie.” 

“It worked for Michael!”

“You had to psych yourself up to kiss Kelso? Actually, don’t answer that. That’s a whole can of worms I do not want to open. You’re putting too much thought into it, man. Let it just _happen.”_

“Fine, ok.” The next second, her hands are anchored on his shoulders and her mouth is on his but it feels so much more than just lips pressed to lips. He can feel her fingers pressing through his tshirt, and his hands grab at her waist to steady them both. 

They pull away again, their second kiss lasting far longer, and Jackie looks out of breath, her cheeks flushed and pink. She looks a little beautiful like this, Hyde thinks. 

“See? That was so much better!” 

“Told you, I’m a great kisser.”

“Yeah, whatever.” He can tell she’s turning his own lessons on being Zen back on him, but he doesn’t comment. 

“Wanna go again? Third time’s the charm.” 

Jackie rolls her eyes but smiles at him, smacking at his shoulder. “Oh shut up and take me home.”

“Past your bedtime, huh? Or, the quicker you get home, the quicker you can write in your diary about how I’m the _best kiss_ you’ve ever had. I totally get it.” 

“Steven!” Jackie squeals, but there’s a giggle hidden between the letters of his name. She hops off the hood, smacking him yet again, and he tries to keep the smile from his face as he slides off as well, making his way to the drivers side. 

“Let's get you home, Cinderella.” 

He doesn’t know what he should be feeling, to be honest. He just had a very good kiss that felt like _something_ and. She didn’t say she felt _nothing_ but she also hasn’t said _anything_ about it. What the fuck is he meant to do with that. 

His internal debating is partially answered when he pulls into her large driveway, and walks her up the path to her door. He doesn’t step up onto the porch, keeps a careful distance from it as a whole. There’s no real deep reason. It just gives off this weirdly ominous air, all large and imposing, and he always feels out of place whenever he sees it.

Jackie’s still wearing his jacket, he notices only because she slips it off and hands it to him. “Thank you, Steven.” She’s smiling, beaming at him in a way that teases at the notion of possibly being shy. Mostly it’s just a content little curl of her lips. Jackie places a hand on his stomach, right above his belly button, and leans up to place a kiss dangerously close to his mouth. “I had a really good time tonight.” 

She seems to thank him a lot, for things he doesn’t really see as thank worthy. He'll have to do something about that. “It was no problem. You deserved it, after your date to the Forman’s cookout turned out to be such a dillhole.” 

“I should have seen it coming, really. Who goes out with a guy that goes by _Chip_ and expects him to be halfway decent?” 

“It’s a learning experience, the way I see it. Never date a guy named after food.” 

Jackie giggles and some part of Hyde, hidden under all the other parts that make up his body, gives a pleasant little rumble. Like he wants to keep hearing her sound like that. “Noted. Goodnight, I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, night.”

_**-** _

Things don’t really change after that. Not really, not in any way that rocks the foundation of the life Hyde has built for himself out of salvaged popsicle sticks. 

Except, maybe things change a litte. Just a little bit. 

Like the way Jackie touches Hyde more than she ever did before. Not in any inappropriate ways, God no. But, small things, here and there. Her hand on his shoulder, as he sits in his chair and reads some magazine that was left on the spool table, and she just wanted to read over his shoulder. Or the way her fingers ghost over the soft parts of his wrist whenever he says something she finds funny. Hands on his back as she moves by him on her way out of the basement, or up the stairs. 

Looping her arm through his own, pressing their sides flush together, as they walk from Forman’s to the Hub, because it’s cold and her teeth are chattering and she won’t stop complaining about how she left her hat in the basement. 

Like it’s casual, like it’s normal for them to be this close and- having Jackie sit next to him and smile up at him and swipe her thumb along the curve of his own; it feels more intimate than he’s ever been with any other girl. And the worst part is, he doesn’t stop her. 

They don’t talk about their Veteran’s Day kiss, they barely acknowledge the date at all. But here they are, teetering so close to holding hands, and he knows for a fact he could hit the brakes. Look Jackie in the eye and tell her to quit it because they aren’t dating, they aren’t a couple. He’s not her boyfriend and stuff like this doesn’t fly. They haven’t even kissed again god dammit. But he doesn’t. The words get stuck behind his teeth and hide under his tongue and he can’t. 

So instead he tugs his arm free from her grasp, ignores her noise of complaint, and slings it around her shoulder, pulling her even closer into his side, her face tucking close to his chest as a gust of icy Wisconsin wind kicks up. 

“Thank you.” She says, quietly. 

“Let’s not make a habit of this. Put your freakin’ hat in your jacket sleeve or something so you don’t forget it again.” 

“Yes sir.” Her voice has a playful little lilt to it, and when he glances down, Jackie is smiling back at him. He doesn’t return the smile. To smile at her would be admitting some form of defeat, he can just feel it. So he presses his lips together and arches an eyebrow, and hurries them towards the Hub. 

Hyde can feel Jackie pout at his lack of reaction, and so he ignores it even harder. He’s become a bit of a master at it by this point. Jackie huffs after a few short blessed moments of silence, and then starts talking once again. Man, nothing lasts forever huh. 

**_-_ **

Jackie spends Christmas at the Forman’s, and no one really says anything about it. Hyde can see the way Mr. and Mrs. Forman glance at each other when she first shows up, no real explanation and an armful of gifts, and how Eric even bites his tongue for most of the day. 

“My parents are in New York.” She says, as she helps Mrs. Forman transfer Christmas cookies onto an equally festive platter.

“And you’re here?” Hyde can’t help but ask from his spot by the fridge. 

Mrs. Forman sends him a wide eyed look at his blunt question, and he gives her a look in response that can be summed up perfectly as _‘what? I was just asking.’_

“Mm-hm.” Jackie replies, lining up the cookies perfectly. Glossing over it completely in the patented Jackie way. “Oh, Mrs. Forman, why did you have to make so many. It would look absolutely perfect if we didn’t have three left over!”

“I can fix that.” He swoops in and grabs the three still sitting on the cooling rack, already biting into one before he even backs away.

“Oh Steven, there’s one for you, Jackie, and Eric each!”

“No doubt.” The moment Mrs. Forman turns her back, Hyde makes a show of biting into a second cookie, silently offering Jackie the third. She smiles at him, that smile that lights up her entire face. He never knew what it meant when someone’s smile was described as beaming or radiant. He always found it rather fucking cheesy. But, he kind of gets it now, as Jackie nibbles on her cookie and Hyde eats Eric’s.

  
  


He gets her a little ceramic unicorn with a terrible paint job that he saw at the corner store and just had to pick up for her. It was all girly and even had a patchy glitter painted mane. Hyde could tell she didn’t like it at first, turning it around and around in her hands, her mouth twisting a little. She didn’t say anything, just bit out a thank you while Mrs. Forman called it cute. 

But then Jackie sat quietly and stared at it while Eric was opening a gift of his own, her thumb sweeping along the pastel purple of it’s flank, and he watched as a smile started to curl at the edges of her lips.

A few days later he hears Donna talking about some ugly little unicorn that was sitting on Jackie’s bedside table the last time she visited, and Hyde can’t help the pleased feeling that settles in his chest. 

  
  


She gets him the self titled _Fleetwood Mac_ album. It was something that she really _really_ enjoyed herself, and honestly she has amazing taste so it only makes sense. Jackie knows how much he likes music, so it felt only fitting. They both know he probably won’t listen to it, since he’s much more into bands with hard guitars and blasting vocals and some sort of anti-whatever message. But it’s the thought that counts, or at least that’s the philosophy she’ll stick to. 

A few weeks later, as she’s trying to convince Fez that Stevie Nicks adds something amazing to the band, Hyde kicks his feet up on the spool table and says, “Yeah, _Rhiannon_ wasn’t all that bad.” He meets her eyes for a second, but before she can say anything he’s turning away and focusing on the television, ending the conversation before it even began.

Jackie likes to think that was his way of saying _it reminded me of you a little bit._

**_-_ **

New Years comes and goes. Fez drinks an entire bottle of Mrs. Forman’s champagne before the party even begins, Kelso manages to almost break the TV, Eric and Donna ruin a whole plate of chips and dip while play wrestling in the kitchen, even Laurie manages to get in on the action by bringing one of her slutty friends around, which somehow was the reason for Kelso almost breaking the TV, and Jackie stares holes into the side of his head as the ball drops. 

Red hooks an arm around Kitty’s waist, pulling her in and giving her a kiss. Donna grabs Eric by the face and plants a chaste peck on his lips. Even Fez lands a sloppy kiss on Kelso’s cheek that they both laugh hysterically about it as Kelso calls him gross. 

“Happy New Year, Jackie.” He tries, because she won’t quit staring with those big mismatched eyes of hers. 

“Happy New Year, Steven.” Jackie blinks up at him, and he’s reminded of that time in her daddy’s Lincoln when he called her _doll._ It’s kind of spooky how much she resembles one. With those large eyes and her pretty pink lips and her skirt that glitters in the living room light. 

Her hand presses itself into the space between his shoulder blades, there and gone before he can fully process, as she moves past him and into the kitchen, saying something about making Donna help Mrs. Forman clean up. Hyde feels like he missed something, but he’s not quite sure what it was.

**_-_ **

They’re sitting in the basement alone, which is a rare occasion. Hyde doesn’t know where everyone else is and honestly he doesn’t care to find out. They’re busy and not here, and that’s good enough for him. Except Jackie. Jackie is very much not busy and here.

Her feet are tucked up under her, and she keeps looking over at Hyde. There’s a nervous sort of energy about her, the type that means she wants to talk about something. God dammit. Maybe if he waits her out, she’ll either crack or continue to let him watch _MASH_ in peace. 

“Steven. Why haven’t you kissed me?”

 _“What?”_ There it is. Out of all the possible things Jackie Burkhart could say, somehow that didn’t make the top 20 of things Hyde was expecting. 

“Ever since that night on Veteran’s Day, you haven’t even glanced at my lips! Was it a bad kiss? I didn’t think it was! I mean, I’ve been sort of waiting for another kiss to happen because you let me hold your hand that one time we all went to the mall and I didn’t want to get seperated from you and you didn’t even complain! So I thought, like, he _has_ to be thinking of kissing me. You don’t just let a girl hold your hand and sit next to you and use you for warmth, if you aren’t thinking about _kissing_ her. It’s been weeks! I’ve thought about kissing you-”

“Jesus Jackie, breathe between your sentences.” Because her face is getting a little red and her words are starting to trip into each other. 

She gulps in some air, her eyes wide and wet and oh God if she starts to cry. 

“I was waiting on _you_ to kiss _me_ again.” He finds himself telling her without any sort of agreement from his brain. His mouth just decides it’s the best thing to tell her. Which, it’s not untrue, it’s the principle of the matter. He broke too easily.

“I’m the girl! I shouldn’t have to initiate it.”

“If you wanted to kiss me, then yeah you should! I’m not gonna kiss you without knowing if you _want_ to. I’m not that type of guy.”

“Well I _do_ want to!”

“Well alright!” 

There’s a tense stretch of silence between them, as Jackie all but leans across the arm of the sofa and Hyde tips forward in his chair. Her foot plants itself on the ground, and he has a moment to notice she’s wearing rainbow socks and her boots must be left by the door, and she’s pushing herself up and he’s ready to get up too, to meet her half way because if she wants a kiss that fucking badly then fine he’ll give it to her, and-

The basement door bangs open, Fez and Kelso literally spilling over each other. The chilly air of late February bites its way into the basement. 

“God damn it’s cold! Shut the door, Fez shut the door!” Kelso yells, wearing a long sleeve shirt and one of his ridiculous puffy vests. Fez kicks the door closed, trips over Jackie’s boots that were lined up so neatly, and curses the whole way over to his lawn chair. 

Jackie fully stands up, her shoulders tense and her eyes searching Hyde’s entire face. He wants to finish what didn’t even begin, but Kelo is snatching the remote and changing the channel and Fez is loudly complaining about American winters. The moment is lost, scurried out the door the moment it was opened. Hyde sits back fully in his chair, an apologetic tilt to his shrug. Jackie releases a breath that could be a sigh if it weren’t so aggressive. 

“I’ll see you later Hyde.” She’s collecting her jacket and stuffing her feet into her boots and then she’s gone. _Fuck._

(The next time they kiss, it’s at the start of summer, but that’s skipping ahead.) 

**_-_ **

“So, you and Jackie?”

“There is no _me and Jackie.”_

Hyde and Eric are outside, shooting hoops alone. Which is stupid. School has been out for at least a few hours, Red and Kitty are out on some spontaneous date night that Red cooked up so the house is parental free, and where is Hyde? 

Not in the basement getting high out of his damn mind with his friends. No, he’s outside, with no one but Forman, playing freakin’ basketball. Not even. They’re playing the lamest round of _horse_ known to man. Hyde launches the ball a little too hard and watches as it cracks against the backboard, bouncing off into the garage. 

Foreman manages to scamper after it and grab it before anything gets wrecked, doubling back with it tucked under his arm. “Ho-ho! That’s an S for you, baby! Eric Foreman is over here, with only an H to his name! I’m on a roll, I’m on fire- the title of undefeated champion is calling my name!”

Hyde wrenches the basketball from Forman’s grip, causing him to stumble a little. “Will you can it? No one likes a sore winner.” 

“I think there is a _you and Jackie,_ though.” Eric continues, picking up exactly where they left off a few minutes ago. A conversation Hyde was trying to steer away from to no avail. “You took her out on that date a few months ago, you got her a christmas gift. You drive her to the Hub and then home all the time. Don’t think I don’t see the way you always pull up a chair next to her at the Hub either. And dude, I even saw you playing chess with her the other day. Something is going on Hyde! You’ve been lured in by her Siren’s song and if you’re not careful she’ll bash your head against a rocky cliff.” 

“I thought you stopped with the evil comparisons?” Hyde dribbles the ball a few times. 

“Nah, I stopped with the hellish demon comparisons. Apparently monster insults are fair game as long as the monster is known to be pretty or charming.” Forman shrugs. “I stopped trying to understand her logic ages ago, man.” Eric steals the ball back, holding it to his chest. “You’re dodging the question.” 

“There was no question, idiot. It was an accusation.” Hyde smacks the ball out of Eric’s grip and takes it back, holding it close to his chest in almost a mirror of Eric a second ago. “And I’m not dodging it, since nothing is going on. We’re friends. That’s not so weird, is it? _You’re_ friends with Jackie.” 

“I don’t share fries with her at the Hub, I don’t make plans to spend time with her, and I certainly don’t get as many gifts as you do. So maybe we are friends, but whatever _you_ have going on, is light years away from that.” Forman actually pats him on the shoulder, a commiserating little twist to his lips. “I have absolutely no freaking clue what you see in her, but man, maybe you should just accept it.” 

“Maybe _you_ shouldn’t be giving me relationship advice.”

“Ouch, cold.” Another pat, “Just think about it, is all I’m saying. Maybe you like the Siren’s menacing song.” And then he’s heading inside, leaving Hyde alone in the driveway. 

He chucks the basketball into the Forman’s backyard and kicks at the tire of the Vista Cruiser for good measure. 

  
  
  


Things between him and Jackie have been a little off lately, is the thing. Ever since the almost kiss that never was in Forman’s basement a couple of months ago, they couldn’t really find their footing around each other anymore. Not the easy way it used to be.

At least they haven’t resorted to trying to avoid each other. They still hang out, but it’s less one on one and more with the rest of their friends. She still shares her fries with him, like Forman pointed out. Since he got the El Camino, he drives her home on days she needs a ride. He drops her off at the mall if she asks. Things stay consistent, but there’s a weird energy that lives underneath everything they say or do, every look shared between them. 

Jackie doesn’t bring it up again, so Hyde decides she didn’t mean it. It only makes sense. Knowing Jackie, if she truly meant it and actually wanted to kiss him again, she would have stormed into the basement the next day and demanded his attention. But she didn’t. So he left it at that. And he’ll continue to leave it at that, damn what Forman says.

**_\---_ **

Spring melts into the heat of Summer, Jackie can feel it on the warmest days of June. The way her shirts stick to her stomach and her skin demands a lighter fabric. School has officially let out, and everyone clammers about their Summer plans. Some girls are planning to take weekend trips to their parent’s lake houses, others are lucky enough to get out of their little town and vacation in much grander places. Like New York and even London. 

Oh how Jackie longs to go anywhere that isn’t Point Place, even if it is only for three months. So much can happen in three months. She could meet the love of her life, maybe. 

Instead, she spends her first day free from school in Eric’s basement, as always. 

An episode of Happy Days is playing that she isn’t paying much attention to. The _clack clack_ of her sandal against the concrete floor isn’t too loud, but apparently it’s loud enough for Hyde to turn his head and snap out a _quit it._

“The Fonz is so rugged, a real bad boy with his leather jacket and motorcycle that seems to magically follow him around. Aye, I wish I could be half the man the Fonz is.” Fez says a bit wistfully from his lawn chair, a bag of M&M’s in his lap. 

Hyde snorts, makes a comment about when Michael tried to pull of a leather jacket and failed. Jackie doesn’t realize she’s gone back to tapping her foot until Hyde reaches out a hand to press against her knee. It’s warm and familiar in a way she wasn’t expecting, and she tries not to think about it.

“What’s got you all worked up?” His eyebrow is raised, just enough that she can see it peaking above his shades, and his hand is moving away before he even finishes his sentence. She wishes he kept it there. 

“Can you believe Michael drove Donna to _California_ without telling any of us? I mean, bad enough that Donna felt like she had to run away from the shame of Eric rejecting her- which, there shouldn’t be any shame in that! We should actually throw a party and run _him_ out of town. But, neither of them said goodbye? I had to find out days later as Donna called me from her mother’s house? All the way in _California!_ I thought Michael and I were finally on good terms! It’s ridiculous, that’s what it is!” 

“We’ve talked about you breathing between sentences.” Hyde comments casually, gaze focusing back on the television. Jackie sucks in a breath, crossing her arms against her chest. They have talked about it before, it’s becoming almost old hat between them. “Donna just wanted to see her mom, man. And Kelso offered to drive her. The lure of Californian babes was too much for him.” Hyde shrugs and chuckles a litte, and a commercial for dish soap rings through the room.

Fez sighs, crumpling up the empty candy bag. “Jackie is right. They should have said something! Who is Kelso’s dearest friend? Who was there for Donna when she went through her phase of only wearing a tshirt to bed? Me! Terrible friends!”

Both Hyde and Jackie both give Fez a look that’s equal parts disgust and befuddlement. 

“Anyways, Jacks, don’t take it too personal. Besides, you were the first person she called. That counts for something.” Another shrug, as Happy Days come back on. 

The combination of Hyde reassuring her of Donna’s friendship and the odd little nickname that she’s never heard from him before but she doesn’t quite hate, leaves her feeling warm. In the pleasant sort of way, not in the way Summer’s sticky heat has a tendency to do. 

  
  
  


The thing is, Summer starts to inch it’s way by and Jackie can’t stop herself from thinking about Hyde. Which she hates. She’s Jackie Burkhart. She shouldn’t be caught up on any man. Many men should be caught up on her! She should be the one plaguing the waking thoughts of men! 

How dare he come into her life, being all dirty and complicated, kiss her, and then keep her at arm’s length! How dare he start growing a beard, and calling her _Jacks_ casually as if he’s always done it, and make fun of people on The Price is Right with her! Doesn’t he know what he’s doing? 

He spreads his legs wide and settles his hands on his stomach and says, “I think you have a point, blue eyeshadow _should_ be illegal.” And what? Is she expected to not want to jump him right then and there? 

Spring seemed to drag on for Jackie. The backstabbing of the cheer squad was getting to her, Donna’s constant bitching about her relationship was getting to her. Even the weird liminal space she settled in with Hyde was getting to her. They were friends but something just felt missing. At least on her end. 

She felt something on Veteran’s Day, and she had waited for him to make another move. She had even waited for him to do something after she very clearly brought it up a few months ago. But still. Nothing! It was getting tiresome, yet she couldn’t stop herself from looking at him. Touching her fingers to his arm to get his attention. Sitting next to him whenever they went out as a group. But she toned it down from before. She stopped trying to hold his hand or link their arms or rest her head against his shoulder when she felt especially tired. 

There was a line between them and she wasn’t quite sure who it was that drew it in the first place. Both of them wary to cross it. She refuses for her Summer to be spent longing for someone when she doesn’t even know his feelings. 

She’s _Jackie Freaking Burkhart._ When she wants answers, she gets them.

**_\---_ **

“Steven, we need to talk.” The door bangs shut behind her, and her bag is left on top of the stereo as she beelines for Hyde’s chair, hands on her hips. 

The sound of his first name makes his head snap up from the magazine he was flipping through. “About what?” She’s wearing a powder pink sundress with little white embroidered flowers, and Hyde doesn’t know why his eyes decide to focus on that. On the way the white flowers match the ties of her sundress, match the ribbons of her sandals. It’s one of those moments where Hyde thinks she looks like a doll. A doll with a pursed mouth and sharp eyes and the ability to make someone cry on command, but a doll nonetheless.

“I think you know what.” Her hands are still on her hips, but when he doesn’t answer, he can see the way her shoulders twitch, tense just a bit. “You should know without me having to tell you!”

“That’s not how it works. You have to use your words. Didn’t they teach you that in kindergarten?” 

“You should just intuitively know what I’m upset about!”

“I’m not a fucking mind reader, Jacks.” The magazine is tossed onto the spool table, forgotten.

For some reason she groans, and her sandal makes contact with the floor in a little irritated stomp. It shouldn’t be as cute as it is. She’s stomping her foot for fuck’s sake, who even does that? But for a split second Hyde forgets that he should be just as irritated with how this conversation is going. 

Jackie plops down onto the couch, crossing her legs at the ankles. Uncrosses them. Crosses them again. Taps the heel of her shoe against the bottom of the couch. The irritation seems to bleed out of her, and now she just seems anxious. In that same way when he knows she wants to ask something, but she isn’t quite sure how to word it. “Steven, be honest with me.”

“Honesty is my middle name.” She shoots him a look and he smiles back. 

“That night, when we- didn't kiss. Did you change your mind about me?” 

The irritation is back, just a small prickle of it, barely noticeable as it’s drowned out by confusion. Hyde feels like he entered into the middle of a conversation he didn’t know they were having. _“What?”_

“I mean, if you did that’s ok.” She chews at her lip, uncrosses her ankles. “People can change their mind.”

“Has all that hairspray finally made its way to your brain? What are you talking about?”

“You didn’t follow me, after I left.” She says it like it’s obvious, like it explains everything. It just makes Hyde more confused. 

“You’ve officially lost your mind.”

“Steven! I’m serious.” 

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“If a boy doesn’t chase the girl after she leaves to kiss her, that means he didn’t want to kiss her at all.” She crosses her arms over her chest, and he thinks she’s trying for defiant, but he can see the way her fingers curl into her shirt. The way her lip is red from being clamped between her teeth. The uncertainty that’s creeping into her eyes. 

There’s enough room between Jackie and the arm of the couch for Hyde to sigh, stand up, and settle in next to her. He’s not used to this shit. You know, the whole feelings and emotions and words bullshit. But it’s important to Jackie. Which. Fuck. Isn’t that the crux of it all. It’s important to Jackie and somehow that’s become important to him. 

He scrubs a hand over his face before hooking his own fingers into the space between her arms, gently unfolding them from where Jackie was clutching at herself. “You read way too many romance novels, Doll.” The word sort of tumbles out. Her eyes sparkle though, so he can’t be too mad. “I meant what I said. About not kissing you unless I knew you were into it.” 

Jackie chews at her lip again, her eyes big and shiny. “But I _told_ you I wanted to kiss you.” 

“You never brought it up again. I thought it was a one off thing, man. I wasn’t gonna overstep.” 

“Ok.” She nods, a small movement like she’s reassuring herself of something. Then she’s surging forward, kissing him. He can feel her knee bump against his leg as she leverages herself, so he pulls her closer, tips his head to fully reach her. Because even sitting down he’s taller than her. God she’s small, no wonder she wears those freakin’ platforms on her feet. 

Her arms glide around his shoulders, and he can feel the spots where her fingers press and bunch up his shirt. It’s like their kiss on Veteran’s Day, but more. So much more. 

Hyde pulls away first, his hands shifting to rest on her waist.

“You’re terrible.” He can feel the way she smiles against his mouth in response, as she pulls him in again, hands making their way to anchor at the back of his neck. 

The way Jackie giggles makes his insides all twisty, but in the best way. Fuck, he’s got it bad. 

(That September, when Jackie opens her birthday gift from Hyde, she can’t help the excited little squeal she makes as she clutches _Rumors by Fleetwood Mac_ close to her chest, and Hyde openly complains about the sticky lipgloss she leaves all over his face after attacking him with kisses, but they both know he doesn’t mind.)

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> if you enjoy my writing and maybe would like to support me in any way, please check out;  
> [my twitter!](https://twitter.com/kaijucats)  
> [my tumblr!](https://donutcats.tumblr.com/)


End file.
